Acoustic absorption and dynamic compressibility studies of dilute and concentrated solutions of polystyrene in toluene and cyclohexane

Acoustic absorption and adiabatic compressibility measurements are reported on solutions of polystyrene (M_n = 89,000) in toluene and cyclohexane. The data in toluene cover a temperature range from 293 to 343°K and a concentration range of 10–400 Kg m^?3 (1–40 wt%). The dependence of acoustic absorption on concentration was found to be linear up to 100 kg m^?3, which corresponds to the concentration at which polymer–polymer interactions cause significant changes in the specific viscosity-concentration relationship. Up to 200 kg m^?3 the data could be fitted to computations based on an artificial separation of the dispersion into contributions from viscoelastic and segmental processes, using parameters obtained from a study of narrow molecular weight distribution samples at 25 kg m^?3. However, neither approach was capable of describing dispersions in the 300, 400 kg m^?3 solutions. The modification of the relaxation spectrum observed at the highest concentrations is ascribed to volume and entropy changes associated with alterations of the local environment around a segment of the polymer chain. These changes have their origin in interchain penetration and polymer–polymer contacts, and indicate that ‘entanglement’ is primarily entropic in effect. The adiabatic compressibility exhibited similar deviations from a simple concentration dependence, and allowed estimation of an incompressible volume increment associated with polymer–polymer interactions in the high-concentration entangled matrix. However, the adiabatic compressibilities of solutions of polystyrene, 10–15 kg m^?3, in cyclohexane showed no deviations from simple behavior in the region of the theta temperature. Measurements of the adiabatic compressibility of polystyrene in mixtures of cyclohexane-toluene have been used to obtain the relative magnitude of solvent and polymer contributions to the excess compressibility.     

On the response of an elastic membrane to a travelling ring load

Exact solutions in closed-form are presented for the dynamic response of an infinite elastic membrane to a suddenly applied, radially expanding ring load.     

Hydrogen‐bonding and π–π stacking interactions in aquachloridobis(1,10‐phenanthroline)cobalt(II) chloride dichloridobis(1,10‐phenanthroline)cobalt(II) hexahydrate

The title compound, [CoCl(C₁₂H₈N₂)₂(H₂O)]Cl·[CoCl₂(C₁₂H₈N₂)₂]·6H₂O, is the first example of a new 1:1 cocrystal of the octahedral [CoCl₂(phen)₂] and [CoCl(phen)₂(H₂O)]⁺·Cl⁻ complexes (phen is 1,10‐phenanthroline). The latter form heterochiral dimers held by strong π–π stacking interactions via their phenathroline ligands, which confirms that π stacking is an important and reliable synthon in supramolecular design. In addition, the crystal structure is networked by H₂O...H₂O, H₂O...Cl⁻ and H₂O...Cl hydrogen bonds, which interconnect the different units of the cobalt complexes.     

Biopolymer Synthesized by Strains of Xanthomonas sp Isolate from Brazil Using Biodiesel-Waste

The future supplies and usage of glycerol are expected to increase as biodiesel plants increase production, and the output will greatly outpace demand. Biodiesel production has already had a significant impact on the price of refined glycerol. A major concern of glycerol producers is the reduced price of glycerol resulting from the increased production of biodiesel. Some alternative uses for this glycerol that have been investigated are substrates for fermentation process or the production of biosurfactants, fatty acids, biopolymers, and others products. This work had as objective to evaluate two strains of Xanthomonas sp isolate from Brazil for xanthan gum in orbital agitator, analizing the apparent viscosity of aqueous solutions and selecting viscosity. The experiments of xanthan gum production were realized in orbital agitator with 120 rpm agitation, for cells production, and 180rpm, for biopolymer production, under a 28 °C temperature. The rheology of the fermentation broth was analyzed by apparent viscosity and the polymer was recovered with ethanol (1:3, v/v). After its recovery, the productivity evaluation was performed. The productivity were 0.157 and 0.363 gL⁻¹ for C1 and 0.186 and 0.363 gL⁻¹ for C9 to media glycerol or glycerol and sucrose, respectively. The viscosity analysis was performed for aqueous solutions 3%, at 25 °C, the best apparent viscosity was obtained using gum synthesized with glycerol and sucrose (50:50) at 25 °C, 143 mPa.s⁻¹ from Xanthomonas sp C1.     

Imaging mass spectrometry of gold nanoparticles in a tissue section as an immunohistochemical staining mass probe

For analysis of low abundance peptides in a tissue section, immunohistochemical staining through antibody‐antigen interaction is a usual technique. The antibody is conjugated with a probe moiety that aids in highly sensitive detection. Gold nanoparticles, which show excellent chemical stability and variation of surface modifications, are expected to act as a sensitive mass probe to desorb gold ions (Au⁺, Au₂⁺, Au₃⁺) that are distinguishable from fragment ions from organic molecules. Here, green fluorescent proteins (GFP) in a tissue section of a transgenic zebrafish were detected by the gold mass probe conjugated with antibodies. Due to the efficient ionization and desorption of gold ions, imaging mass spectrometry of Au₂⁺ ions indicated the distribution of gold nanoparticles stained in a tissue section, and the mass signal distribution was consistent with the area where the GFP‐expressing cells were distributed. Conventional immunofluorescence techniques showed intense autofluorescence that come from intrinsic fluorophores in the tissue section. In contrast, the gold nanoparticles acted as an immunostaining mass probe that displayed significantly lower background signals.     

Environmental implications for online retailing

Recent press has highlighted the environmental benefits associated with online shopping, such as emissions savings from individual drivers, economies of scale in package delivery, and decreased inventories. We formulate a dual channel model for a retailer who has access to both online and traditional market outlets to analyze the impact of customer environmental sensitivity on its supply. In particular, we analyze stocking decisions for each channel incorporating price dependent demand, customer preference/utility for online channels, and channel related costs. We compare and contrast results from both deterministic and stochastic models, and utilize numerical examples to illustrate the implications of industry specific factors on these decisions. Finally, we compare and contrast the findings for disparate industries, such as electronics, books and groceries.     

A comparison of the binding of metal complexes to duplex and quadruplex DNA

Electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy were used to compare the binding of mononuclear nickel, ruthenium and platinum complexes to double stranded DNA (dsDNA) and quadruplex DNA (qDNA). CD studies provided evidence for the binding of intact complexes of all three metal ions to qDNA. ESI mass spectra of solutions containing platinum or ruthenium complexes and qDNA showed evidence for the formation of non-covalent complexes consisting of intact metal molecules bound to DNA. However, the corresponding spectra of solutions containing nickel complexes principally contained ions consisting of fragments of the initial nickel molecule bound to qDNA. In contrast ESI mass spectra of solutions containing nickel, ruthenium or platinum complexes and dsDNA only showed the presence of ions attributable to intact metal molecules bound to DNA. The fragmentation observed in mass spectral studies of solutions containing nickel complexes and qDNA is attributable to the lower thermodynamic stability of the former metal complexes relative to those containing platinum or ruthenium, as well as the slightly harsher instrumental conditions required to obtain spectra of qDNA. This conclusion is supported by the results of tandem mass spectral studies, which showed that ions consisting of intact nickel complexes bound to qDNA readily undergo fragmentation by loss of one of the ligands initially bound to the metal. The ESI-MS results also demonstrate that the binding affinity of each of the platinum and ruthenium complexes towards qDNA is significantly less than that towards dsDNA.     

The pro-oxidant effects of interactions of ascorbate with photoexcited melanin fade away with aging of the retina

Photoexcited melanin from retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) has been shown to induce photo-oxidation of ascorbate with concomitant generation of hydrogen peroxide. The aim of this study was to test whether the age-related changes in melanin content and distribution in the RPE affect the susceptibility of RPE cells to ascorbate-mediated photo-oxidation. Our results demonstrate that there is an age-dependent shift in the pathways with which ascorbate interacts in human RPE. In young RPE, melanin-ascorbate interactions may lead to pro-oxidant effects, but in the aged there is no net increase in photo-oxidation in the presence of ascorbate in comparison with samples without ascorbate. However, as ascorbate undergoes light-induced depletion and photogenerates ascorbyl free radical in the old RPE cells with initial yields similar to that observed for young RPE, an influence of ascorbate on oxidation pathways is revealed in the old RPE as well. Interestingly, the pro-oxidant effects of photoexcited melanolipofuscin-ascorbate interactions are greater than for photoexcited melanosomes when normalized to the same melanin content. The pro-oxidant effects of photoexcited melanin-ascorbate interactions are strongly dependent on the irradiation wavelength, this being the greatest for the shortest wavelength studied (340 nm) and steeply decreasing with increasing wavelength but still detectable even at 600 nm.     

Evaluation of automated direct sample introduction with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry for the screening analysis of dioxins in fish oil

An automated direct sample introduction technique coupled to comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (DSI-GC x GC/TOF-MS) was applied for the development of a relatively fast and easy analytical screening method for 17 polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and 4 non-ortho polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish oil. Comparison of instrumental performance between DSI-GC x GC/TOF-MS and the traditional gas chromatographic high resolution mass spectrometric (GC-HRMS) method showed good agreement of results for standard solutions analyzed in blind fashion. Relatively high tolerance of the DSI technique for lipids in the final extracts enabled a streamlined sample preparation procedure that only required gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and solid-phase extraction (SPE) cleanup with graphitized carbon black. The sample size for the method was 2g of cod liver oil, which achieved limits of quantitation (LOQs) of 0.019-7.8 pg/g toxic equivalent quotients for the individual PCDD/Fs. Lower detection limits can be achieved by using larger sample size and scaling up the sample preparation procedure, but this adds to the labor, time, solvent consumption, and expense of the approach. However, the streamlined method yielded 0.94 pg/g and 2.3 pg/g LOQs for 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro dibenzofuran (TCDF) and 3,3',4,4',5-pentachloro biphenyl (CB126), which were sufficiently low for regulatory monitoring of 2g samples. Therefore, instead of congener specific analysis, this streamlined analytical screening method for TCDF and CB126 has the potential to monitor fish oil contaminated with dioxin and dioxin-like PCBs at or above current food safety limits. Acceptable recoveries for nearly all analytes at three different spiking levels in fish oil samples were achieved with good repeatability.